Needle bar and pressure foot lifting attachment with brake



April 30, 1968 J. 0. PROFFIT ETAL 3,380,415

NEEDLE BAR AND PRESSURE FOOT LIFTING ATTACHMENT WITH BRAKE Filed Oct. .1, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet l Edward P. Lisenby INVENTORS J. D. PROFFIT ETAL 3,380,415

NEEDLE BAR AND PRESSURE FOOT LIFTING ATTACHMENT WITH BRAKE April 30, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed Oct.

4 Fig. 2

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S fle 78 f .I V OLm f PP m M WWW April 30, 1968 J. D. PROFFIT ETAL 3,380,415

NEEDLE BAR AND PRESSURE FOOT LIFTING ATTACHMENT WITH BRAKE Filed Oct. 1, 1965 4 SheetsSheet :s

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John 0. Praffif Edward P. Lisenby IN VEN TORS BY WWW Em April 1968 J. D. PROFFIT ETAL 3,380,415

NEEDLE BAR AND PRESSURE FOOT LIFTING ATTACHMENT WITH BRAKE I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 John 0. Proffif Edward P. Lisenby IN VENTORS E; 2mm

WWW 15m United States Patent NEEDLE BAR AND PRESSURE FOOT LIFTING ATTACHMENT WITH BRAKE John D. Profiiit, Clarksville, Tenn. (205 Gilbert Drive,

Hopkinsville, Ky. 42240), and Edward P. Lisenby, Hayes Garment Co., Hopkinsville, Ky. 42240 Filed Oct. 1, 1965, 521'. No. 491,917

Claims. (Cl. 112-219) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A positioning disk secured to the drive pulley of a sewing machine for moving the needle bar and pressure foot to the upper retracted positions. The disk is angularly displaced for needle bar positioning purposes by a piston operated drive disengaged from the disk at the end of the needle bar positioning stroke of the piston. A brake is then engaged with the disk to hold the needle bar and the pressure foot in the retracted positions.

This invention relates to an attachment for sewing machines and more particularly to a needle positioning mechanism and pressure foot lifting device.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for sewing machines of the type having a reciprocating needle bar driven by a reciprocating drive mechanism and a pressure foot biased to a work engaging position, the attachment being operative upon selective command to automatically withdraw the needle bar to the upper end of its reciprocatory stroke and lift the pressure foot from its work engaging position in a rapid and reliable manner.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for sewing machines which employs a drive element undergoing a fixed amount of travel to shift the reciprocating drive mechanism associated with the sewing machine by a sufficient amount to displace the needle bar to the upper end of its reciprocatory stroke regardless of the position at which the needle bar has come to rest after power is removed.

A still further object in accordance with the foregoing object is to provide an attachment for sewing machine which upon selective command is operative to position a reciprocatory needle bar to the upper end of its stroke while at the same time the pressure foot is retracted from its work engaging position against a bias imposed thereon which is also utilized to restore the moving parts of the attachment to their start positions.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for sewing machines which includes a brake device displaced into engagement with a positioning disk in order to hold the reciprocating drive mechanism in a position corresponding to the upper end of the reciprocatory stroke of the needle bar after the needle bar has been so positioned.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for sewing machines which executes the aforementioned functions in a positive manner by use of mechanical facilities capable of being easily installed and inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the attachment of the present invention shown installed.

3,380,415 Patented Apr. 30, 1968 FIGURE 2 is a rear elevational view of the attachment.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged front elevational view of the attachment in one operative position.

FIGURE 4 is a partial front elevational view of the attachment in another operative position.

FIGURE 5 is a simplified partial view showing the operational relationship between the attachment and the working parts of the sewing machine affected.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged partial side elevational view of the attachment with parts broken away and shown in section.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 7-7 in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8. is a perspective view of some of the disassembled parts of the attachment.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and initially to FIGURES 1 and 2 it will be observed that the attachment generally denoted by reference numeral 10 is installed in operative relationship to one type of sewing machine generally denoted by reference numeral 12 and illustrated by dotted line. The attachment is mounted in operative relationship to the sewing machine by means of a base plate 14. A protective shield 16 is secured to the base plate and extends upwardly therefrom so as to protect the operator from the moving parts of the attachment. Since the moving parts of the attachment are drivingly associated with the reciprocating drive mech anism of the sewing machine, a supporting standard 18 is also secured to the base plate and extends upwardly therefrom at an angle perpendicular to the input drive shaft 20 associated with the reciprocating drive mechanism of the sewing machine as more clearly seen in FIG- URE 6. Accordingly, the supporting standard 18 will be disposed in parallel spaced relation to the power driven pulley wheel 22 connected to the drive shaft 20 of the reciprocating drive mechanism.

As shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 6, a slide bearing 24 is secured to the upper end of the supporting standard 18 and slidably receives a piston rod 26 which extends into a fluid operated cylinder device 28 secured to and extending upwardly from the slide bearing 24. Fluid under pressure is accordingly admitted to the upper end of the cylinder device through the conduit 30 to which a pressure monitoring gauge 32 may be secured. Fluid supplied to the conduit 30 may therefore be selectively admitted to the upper end of the cylinder device upon energization of a solenoid operated valve mechanism 34. The solenoid valve 34 may therefore be supplied with electrical energy from any suitable source upon closing of the selectively actuated switch 36 as shown in FIGURE 1. It will of course be appreciated that other types of selectively controlled power operating mechanism could be utilized in order to impart a predetermined reciprocatory stroke to the reciprocable piston rod 26 normally biased to an upper position defined by a stop element 38 abutting the slide bearing 24 as shown in FIGURE 6. Thus, when the switch 36 is manually closed, the reciproca-ble piston member 26 will undergo a fixed amount of travel from its start position in order to execute the various functions of the attachment.

The reciprocable piston member 26 constitutes the input element of a positioning drive mechanism supported on the standard 18 of the attachment by means of the supporting shaft 40 which is axially aligned with the drive shaft 20 associated with the reciprocating drive mechanism of the sewing machine. The reciprocable piston member 26 is therefore provided with a gear rackportion 42 in constant mesh with a pinion gear 44 as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7. The pinion gear 44 is journalled on the supporting shaft 40 which also mounts a rack retaining element 46 for guiding movement of the rack portion 42 of the reciprocable member 26 in proper meshing engagement with the pinion 44. The pinion 44 is formed integrally with a drive plate member 48 as more clearly seen in FIGURES 6 and 8 so that reciprocatory movement imparted to the reciprocable piston member 26 will impart oscillatory movement to the drive plate member 48 about the axis extending through the supporting shaft 40 and the drive shaft 20.

The supporting shaft 40 also journals thereon a driven positioning disk member 50 secured to the power driven pulley 22 by a plurality of fasteners 52 which are threadedly received within the apertures 54 in the positioning disk member. The positioning disk member therefore rotates with the driven pulley member 22 and the drive shaft 20 to which it is connected so that when the needle bar associated with the sewing machine is at an upper end of its stroke corresponding to its withdrawn position, the positioning disk member 50 will be in a predetermined angular phase position.

Formed on the radially outer, circular rim 56 of the positioning disk member 50, is a driven projection 58 disposed in a properly orientated position. The drive projection 58 includes a driving face 60 adapted to be engaged by a pawl element 62 pivotally mounted on the drive plate 48 by a pivot pin 64 held assembled on the drive plate 48 by the clip 66 as shown in FIGURE 8. The pawl element 62 is biased into engagement with the outer peripheral surface 56 of the pisitioning disk member by means of a spring element 68, the opposite ends of which are anchored to the drive plate member 48 and the pawl element as shown for example in FIGURE 3. Accordingly, angular displacement of the drive plate member 48 in one direction relative to the positioning disk member will bring the pawl element into engagement with the driving face 60 of the drive projection 58. It will therefore be apparent, that the pawl element 62 and the drive projection 58 on the positioning disk member form a unidirectional drive coupling so that oscillatory movement of the drive disk member 48 in one direction will be imparted to the positioning disk member during a portion of the oscillatory stroke in said one direction, dependent upon the position of the drive projection or the angular orientation of the positioning disk member 50 relative to the drive plate member 48 at the beginning of its oscillatory stroke.

The drive plate member 48 will be at one end of its oscillatory stroke as shown in FIGURE 3 when the reciprocable piston member 26 to which it is geared is at the end of its downward travel from the start position. Accordingly, the angular position of the positioning disk member 50 with its drive projection engaging the pawl element 62 as shown in FIGURE 3, will correspond to the position of the needle bar at the upper end of its stroke. It is to this position the positioning disk member is always driven because of the unidirectional coupling established by the pawl element 62 between the drive plate member 48 and the positioning disk 50. When the reciprocable piston member 26 is in its upper start position as shown in FIGURE 4, the drive plate member 48 will be at the other end of its oscillatory stroke, in which position the pawl element 62 is brought into engagement with a drive disabling stop member 70 which is secured to the base 14 and projects upwardly therefrom in proper position. The pawl element 62 is thereby held out of engagement with the peripheral outer surface 56 of the position disk member 50 against the bias of the spring element 68 so that the drive projections 58 will not be engaged by the pawl elements. Accordingly, in this position of the drive mechanism as shown in FIGURE 4, the reciprocating drive mechanism to which the positioning disk member 50 is connected may operate independently of the attachment.

Also associated with the attachment as shown in FIG- URES 3 and 4, is a brake element 72 having an arcuate brake surface 74 adapted to engage the radially outer peripheral surface 56 of the positioning disk member as shown in FIGURE 3 in order to hold the positioning disk member in its predetermined phase position corresponding to the position of the needle bar at the upper end of its stroke. The brake element 72 is therefore secured by the fasteners 76 to one arm 78 of a lever assembly pivotally mounted by pivot 80 on the bracket 82 secured to the base 14. The other arm 84 of the lever assembly is provided adjacent an end remote from the pivot 80 with a recess 86 for receiving the lower end of the rack portion 42 associated with reciprocable piston member 26. Therefore, when the reciprocable piston member 26 is downwardly displaced from the its start position to the end of its travel as shown in FIGURE 3, it will pivotally displace the lever assembly and the brake element 72 mounted thereon into its brake engaging position. On the other hand, the lever assembly is continuously biased to the position shown in FIGURE 4 displacing the brake element 72 to a disengaged position and urging the reciprocable piston member 26 to its upper start position.

The lever assembly is urged to the position shown in FIGURE 4 by means of a transfer lever or linkage element 88 engaging the underside of the lever arm 84. As shown in FIGURE 5, the transfer lever is pivotally mounted at any suitable location by the pivot 90 and connected to the pressure foot 92 which is biased downwardly to a work engaging position by the spring 94. Accordingly, the bias imposed on the pressure foot 92 will continuously urge the brake element 72 to its disengaged position and the reciprocable piston member 26 to its upper start position. However, when the reciprocable piston member 26 is actuated by the power operated cylinder device 28 it will not only displace the brake element 72 into engagement with the positioning disk member in order to hold the needle bar in its upper position but will also displace the pressure foot 92 to its retracted position against the bias of the spring 94. Thus, the pressure foot is retracted at the same time that the needle bar withdraws the sewing needle 96 and holds it in its withdrawn position.

From the foregoing description, the construction, operation and installation of the attachment of the present invention will be apparent. When the attachment is installed, the reciprocable piston member 26 is ordinarily in its upper start position as shown in FIGURE 4 so that the brake element 72 is disengaged and the coupling pawl element 62 is also held disengaged by the disabling stop member 70 uncoupling the positioning drive mechanism from the piositioning disk member 50. The reciprocating drive mechanism associated with the sewing machine may then be operated without interference from the attachment. When power is removed from the reciprocating drive mechanism and it is desired to retract both the sewing needle and pressure foot from the material being sewn, the operator need only depress the control switch 36 so that the fiuid operated cylinder device 28 will impart movement to the reciprocatory piston member 26 causing it to undergo its fixed amount of travel from the upper start position to the lower position shown in FIG- URE 3. As the reciprocable piston member is displaced from its start position, it will angularly displace the drive plate member 48 to thereby release the driving pawl element 62 from stop 70 so that spring 68 will cause it to engage the outer peripheral surface 56 of the positioning disk member 50. Depending upon the position at which the reciprocating drive mechanism had come to rest, at some point in its travel the pawl element 62 will engage the driving face 60 of the drive projection in order to angularly displace the positioning disk member by an amount sufficient to bring the needle bar to the upper end of its reciprocatory stroke. Thus, the positioning disk member 50 will be finally displaced to the position illustrated in FIGURE 3 at which instance the brake element 72 is brought into engagement with the outer peripheral surface 56 thereof to prevent further displacement of the positioning disk member and the needle bar from the upper end of its stroke. At the same time, the lever arm 84 will downwardly displace the transfer lever or linkage 88 in order to retract the pressure foot 92 against the bias imposed thereon for holding the pressure foot in its work engaging position. When the operator releases the control switch 36, the valve 34 vents the fluid under pressure supplied to the upper end of the cylinder device 28 permitting the mechanism to be restored to its original position uncoupling it from the positioning disk member and disengaging the brake element. The sewing machine will then be free to operate without interference from the attachment.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shOWn and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with a sewing machine having a drive mechanism, a reciprocable needle bar driven by said drive mechanism and a pressure foot biased to a work engaging position, an attachment comprising a reciprocable member, positioning means connected to said drive mechanism for displacement of the needle bar to a withdrawn position, unidirectional drive means drivingly connected to said reciprocable member and engageable with the positioning means for movement thereof by an amount sufficient to displace the needle bar to said withdrawn posit-ion, brake means actuated by the reciprocable member and engageable with said positioning means to prevent displacement of the needle bar from said withdrawn position, linkage means connected to the pressure foot for continuously biasing the brake means and the reciprocable member respectively to a disengaged position and a retracted position, selectively actuated mean-s operatively connected to the reciprocable member for displacement thereof from the retracted position through a predetermined stroke displacing said brake means toward engagement with the positioning means and retracting the pressure foot against the bias imposed thereon, and drive disabling means engageable with the unidirectional drive means in the retracted position of the reciprocable member for disengaging the drive means from the positioning means to permit operation of the drive mechanism independently of the attachment.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said unidirectional drive means comprises a drive member driven by the reciprocable member relative to the positioning means, constant mesh gear means drivingly connecting said drive member to the reciprocable member, pawl means mounted on the drive member for coupling thereof to the positioning means in only one predetermined position relative thereto causing displacement of the needle bar by a variable amount to the withdrawn position during said movement of the reciprocable member through the predetermined stroke.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said disabling means comprises a fixed stop member engageable with said pawl means for holding the same out of engagement with the positioning means.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said positioning means comprises a rotatable disk connected to the drive mechanism and directly engageable by the brake means, and a drive engaging projection on said disk engageable by the unidirectional drive means in response to movement of the reciprocable member in one direction.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises a rotatable disk connected to the drive mechanism and directly engageable by the brake, and a drive engaging projection on said disk engageable by the unidirectional drive means in response to movement of the reciprocable member in one direction.

6. In combination with a sewing machine having a drive mechanism, a reciprocable needle bar driven by said drive mechanism and a pressure foo-t biased to a work engaging position, an attachment comprising a reciprocable member, positioning means connected to said drive mechanism for displacement of the needle bar to a withdrawn position, disengageable drive means drivingly connected to said reciprocable member and engageable with the positioning means for movement thereof by an amount sufficient to displace the needle bar to said withdrawn position, linkage means connected to the pressure foot for continuously biasing the reciprocable member to a retracted position, selectively actuate-d means operatively connected to the reciprocable member for displacement thereof from the retracted position through a predetermined stroke retracting the pressure foot against the bias imposed thereon, and drive disabling means engageable with the drive means in the retracted position of the reciprocable member for disengaging the drive means from the positioning means to permit operation of the drive mechanism independently of the attachment.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said disengageable drive means comprises a drive member driven by the reciprocable member relative to the positioning means, constant mesh gear means drivingly connecting said drive member to the reciprocable member, pawl means mounted on the drive member for transmitting torque to the positioning means in only one predetermined position relative thereto causing displacement of the needle ,bar by a variable amount to the withdrawn position during said movement of the reciprocable member through the predetermined stroke.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said disabling means comprises a fixed stop member engageable with said pawl means for holding the same out of engagement with the positioning means.

9. The combination of claim 6 wherein said positioning mean-s comprises a rotatable disk connected to the drive mechanism and a drive engaging projection on said disk engageable by the drive means in response to movement of the reciprocable member in one direction.

10. In combination with a sewing machine having a drive mechanism, a reciprocable needle bar driven by said drive mechanism and a pressure foot biased to a work engaging position, an attachment comprising a reciprocable member, positioning means connected to said drive mechanism for displacement of the needle bar to a withdrawn position, unidirectional drive means drivingly connecting said reciprocable member to the positioning means for movement thereof by an amount sufiicient to displace the needle bar to said withdrawn position, brake means actuated by the reciprocable member engageable with said positioning means to prevent displacement of the needle bar from said withdrawn position, linkage means connected to the pressure foot for continuously biasing the brake means and the reciprocable member respectively to a disengaged position and to a retracted position, selectively actuated means operatively connected to the reciprocable member for displacement thereof from the retracted position through a predetermined stroke displacing said brake means toward engagement with the positioning means and retracting the pressure foot against the bias imposed thereon.

11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said unidirectional drive means comprises a drive member driven by the reciprocable member relative to the positioning means, constant mesh gear means drivingly connecting said drive member to the reciprocable member, pawl means mounted on the drive member for transmitting torque to the positioning means in only one predetermined position relative thereto causing displacement of the needle bar by a variable amount to the withdrawn position during said movement of the reciprocable member through the predetermined stroke.

12. The combination of claim 10 wherein said positioning means comprises a rotatable disk connected to the drive mechanism and a drive engaging projection on said disk engageable by the unidirectional drive means in response to movement of the reciprocable member in one direction.

13. In combination with a sewing machine having a reciprocating mechanism, a needle bar driven by said reciprocating mechanism and a material engaging foot biased to a work engaging position, a needle bar positioning device comprising a driven member connected to the reciprocating mechanism, said driven member occupying a predetermined phase position when the needle bar is at one end of a reciprocating stroke, selectively actuated drive means having a fixed amount of travel, coupling means mounted by the drive means and engageable with the driven member for displacement thereof to said predetermined phase position in response to actuation of the drive means, brake means actuated by the drive means for engaging and holding the driven member in said predetermined phase position in response to completion of said fixed amount of travel of the drive means means engageable with the material engaging foot continuously biasing the drive means to a start position, and means engageable with the coupling means for disconnecting the driven member from the drive means in the start position thereof to permit operation of the reciprocating mechanism independently of the positioning device.

14. The combination of claim 13 wherein said means engageable with the material engaging foot comprises a transfer lever actuated by the drive means for lifting the foot from the work engaging position.

15. In combination with a sewing machine having a drive wheel, a needle bar reciprocated by the drive wheel and a pressure foot biased to a work engaging position, an attachment comprising a fixed frame, a support shaft secured to the frame in axial alignment with the drive wheel, a positioning disk secured to the drive wheel, a drive arm rotatably mounted on said support shaft adjacent the positioning disk, a reciprocable member slidably mounted by the frame for movement between limit positions, constant mesh gear means drivingly connecting the reciprocable member to the drive arm, one-way drive means mounted by the drive arm for engagement with the positioning disk in one angular position thereof relative to the drive arm, stop means mounted by the frame for disengaging the one-way drive means from the positioning disk in one of the limit positions of the reciprocable member, brake means movably mounted by the frame for engagement with the positioning disk, brake actuating means engaged by the reciprocable member for engaging the brake means only in said one of the limit positions of the reciprocable member, and linkage means operatively connecting the brake actuating means with the pressure foot for continuously biasing the reciprocable member to the other limit position thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,850,708 3/1932 Davis 1l22l9 2,433,257 12/1947 Bengtsson ll2219. 2,934,030 4/1960 Herr 1122l9 X FOREIGN PATENTS 911,209 5/1954 Germany.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Examiner. 

